{"id":2433338,"date":"2026-05-26T21:10:16","date_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2433338"},"modified":"2026-05-26T21:10:16","modified_gmt":"2026-05-26T21:10:16","slug":"less-cool-less-cold-a-new-kind-of-nightlife-is-taking-over-berlin","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/less-cool-less-cold-a-new-kind-of-nightlife-is-taking-over-berlin\/","title":{"rendered":"Less cool, less cold: A new kind of nightlife is taking over Berlin"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Toy Tonics Art Jam, 2026<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n<\/header>\n

Gallery \/ 15 images<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

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For years, my prevailing memory of clubbing in Berlin has been queuing up for hours in the December cold, only to be looked up and down by a hulking German man in a trench coat and told, \u201cYou are not <\/span>vhat ve<\/span><\/em> are looking for.\u201d (In their defence, the club was KitKat and probably not <\/span>vhat<\/span><\/em> I was looking for, either.)\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This is a worst-case scenario, but it probably feels recognisable to anyone who has partied in the world\u2019s techno capital. On RyanAir flights and high-speed trains to Berlin, people share tips on how dressing in all black and adhering to hidden vibe codes might secure access to the city\u2019s industrial-sized nightclubs, where hedonism and trance-inducing techno beats run for <\/span>days on end. These experiences have become synonymous with Berlin in the 21st century \u2013 in 2023, its techno scene was even added to UNESCO\u2019s list of intangible cultural heritage sites. But, in recent years, the beat of the city has started to shift.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leading the charge is eclectic Berlin-based house label Toy Tonics<\/a>, which defines itself in opposition to the old techno gods of Berlin. \u201cWe\u2019re coming out of a decade in which a \u2018cold mood\u2019 was ruling in fashion and electronic music \u2013 dark sounds, black clothes, industrial aesthetics, and aloof behaviour came from the underground and became mainstream,\u201d explains the label\u2019s founder Mathias Modica<\/a>, also known as DJ and producer Kapote, as we walk to its\u00a0latest event at the newly-built Studio 1111<\/a> venue in Schoneberg. \u201cBeing surrounded by so many dark and monotone sounds like techno and trance in Berlin, we wanted Toy Tonics to bring a positive vibe and attitude.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In keeping with that spirit, Modica is rocking a bright blue cap emblazoned with the words \u201cFuck Bauhaus\u201d \u2013 \u00a0a look he describes as a rejection of \u201cthe old Gods of German rationality\u201d. Instead, Toy Tonics takes inspiration from \u201cpunks like Andy Warhol\u201d and the colourful chaos of German artist Isa Genzken. \u201cThese people broke the rules with a certain sprezzatura,<\/em> as the Italians call it \u2013 an ironic ease that carries positivity and an open-minded attitude, rejecting rigid rules and restrictions,\u201d he tells me.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"TTxStudio1111_(by_Michael_Ullrich)1\"<\/span><\/span>

Toy Tonics DJ and doorman Atari<\/span><\/span>Photography Michael Ullrich<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

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We arrive at Studio 1111 to find the party spilling onto the streets outside and a hip-hop band no one seems to know the name of hosting an impromptu jam session. Forming part of the ongoing\u00a0<\/span>Erster Mai <\/span><\/em>(first of May) Labour Day celebrations across the city, the scene marks a powerful contrast with the traditional Berlin clubbing experience of waiting in line in frosty silence. At one point, Modica even points out that their doorperson has taken a step away from her post to freestyle into the microphone. Meanwhile, looking around at my fellow revellers, variously dressed in all-camo, colourful print tees and the odd black leather jacket, I get the impression that my outfit isn\u2019t going to affect my chances of entering the club this time around.<\/span><\/p>\n

All of this speaks to what Modica insists is the guiding principle of Toy Tonics parties: \u201cKindness is the new coolness.\u201d \u201cIn times where extreme right-wing politicians are known for their arrogance, and when we are surrounded by growing economic problems and new wars, it\u2019s not the time to be cool and cold: it\u2019s the time to be open and friendly.\u201d Modica continues. Indeed, Toy Tonic\u2019s Art Jam was anything but cold that night, with its diffusive, afro-disco-house sets full of melodic trills and explosive drops, and the crowd clapping, singing and screaming along in unison. There were also more than a few members of the crowd getting \u2018friendly\u2019 with each other when I left Studio 1111 at 3am that morning.<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s no surprise that there is a demand for alternatives to Berlin\u2019s techno scene, which is undergoing a period of decline. In recent years, clubs across the city have closed at an unprecedented rate, techno tourism <\/span>is dwindling<\/a>, and many argue that Berghain\u2019s UNESCO designation is more of a bandage than a crown \u2013 essentially a bid to secure government funding to protect the venue from potential closure. Toy Tonics, which has hosted no less than 190 lively parties in the last year alone, seems to be the exception to this trend.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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This emphasis on \u2018kindness\u2019 is something I have observed more widely in dance music ever since the pandemic. Just last year, I wrote about how club sonics seemed to be getting increasingly silly<\/a>, with much-maligned \u2018brostep\u2019 pioneer Skrillex now emerging as an unlikely paragon of a new drive towards maximalist and meme-adjacent sonics, embodied in 2026 stars like Underscores and Ninajirachi. As I see it, this shift is a response to the bleakness that has permeated so much of Gen Z\u2019s lives \u2013 the\u00a0pandemic, failing political systems, the rise of the hard-right, endless images of genocide and the twin apocalyptic threats of climate crisis and AI, to name a few. When the world is this grim,<\/span>\u00a0so-called \u2018silly\u2019 music feeds a craving for unadulterated, escapist fun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

It\u2019s telling, then, that Skrillex himself will be hosting a two-day takeover<\/a> of Berlin\u2019s Kraftwerk club this weekend. The techno mecca, which houses Tresor, the city\u2019s oldest and second-biggest techno club after Berghain, is now set to be invaded by \u2013 among others \u2013 the egregious dubstep sonics of Oxford DJ Hamdi and the colourful cloud rap of Tokyo\u2019s Tohji. In view of widely publicised threats to the city\u2019s nightlife, the event signals a profound change of wind in its techno heartlands.<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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Lovefoxy, an upbeat house and Detroit-style techno DJ, agrees that a new emphasis on kindness is\u00a0transforming Berlin\u2019s club landscape: she describes her role as \u201cplaying silly, fun music\u201d to take young people away from the pressures of modern society. But for her, this doesn’t mean rejecting techno. She points out that the genre has long co-existed with house in the city\u2019s nightclubs \u2013 it was <\/span>only in the last 15 years that techno became the stone-faced, leather-clad monolith it is today.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cIn the 80s, it was more disco-house-y. Techno was definitely around but not to the extent that it [has been recently],\u201d she explains, referencing her mother, who opened Berlin\u2019s first house and techno club back in 1989. \u201cThis was before the Berlin Wall fell, and West Berlin became a strong community. People didn\u2019t care about the headliners; it was a loose, fun approach to partying. [In the last decade], the music has become harder, and there\u2019s the myth that you have to dress in all-black to get into Berghain. That definitely isn\u2019t the case. Come as you are, be as you are \u2013 that is what Berlin has always stood for.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This takes us to the heart of this vibe shift.\u00a0<\/span>Far from the stern-faced bouncers and mythical vibe codes that gatekept Berlin\u2019s techno clubs of yesteryear, it seems that all young people today really want is a place where they feel accepted and welcome. Be it techno, house or Skrillex-coded chaos, perhaps a bright future for Berlin\u2019s nightlife can be found in clubs where the doorperson forgets to search you entirely because they\u2019re too busy freestyling over Bob Marley\u2019s \u201cOne Love\u201d in the smoking area \u2013 or, at least, that\u2019s what happened to me.<\/p>\n

Check the gallery above for a closer look inside Toy Tonics Art Jam parties.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n